Hans-Otto Meyer
Indiana Cooler (1983 to 2002)
The ‘Indiana Cooler’ was a storage ring for light ions, consisting of a magnet lattice of about 100 m
in circumference. It was part of the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF). Initially, the IU
Cyclotron delivered the ion beams for the ring; eventually a dedicated Injector Cyclotron was added. The
Cooler ring was built specifically for the purpose of exploiting the novel technology of
electron cooling
which made it possible to place a target in the stored beam.
Research with the Indiana Cooler: Polarization in Few-Nucleon systems
In the 'Cooler', light ions were circulating in a closed loop, while traversing a thin, internal target.
We studied the interactions occuring in that target. The particles in the beam, as well
as those in the target, could be polarized. The 'heating' of the beam by interaction with
the target was counteracted by the newly discovered process of
electron cooling.
The international collaboration PINTEX (Polarized Internal Target Experiment) involved
researchers from several midwestern universities, as well as a number of European institutions.
My Review of the Indiana Cooler summarizes the life of this unique facility.
Indiana University Archives: preserving the History of the Indiana Cooler
In April 2018 I have submitted a collection of edited and catalogued records, documenting construction and operation of the
Cooler from 1981 to 2002. These records are arranged in 5 Boxes and may be accessed upon request at
the
Indiana University Archives . A detailed description of the content of each of these boxes is available by the following links
Box 1a: Cooler construction and operation and the shut-down of the machine
Box 1b: the first experiment (CE01): neutral pion production near threshold
Box 2: information on most Cooler experiments
Box 3: Polarized internal targets (PINTEX) and proton-proton scattering
Box 4: Logbooks I
Box 5: Logbooks II